Improvement in the mode of uniting metal surfaces



W. B. BARNARD. MODE 0F UNITING METAL SURFACES.

Patented Jan. 27, 1863.

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WILLIAM B. BARNARD, or WATERBURY, OONNEOTIOUZASSIGNOR To HlMSELF AND s. o. BLAOKMAN, or SAME PLACE.

IMPROVEMENT IN THE MODE OF UNITING METAL SURFACES.

Specification forming part of Letters 'Patent No. 37,555. dated January 27, 1863.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, WILLIAM B BARNARD, of the town of Waterbury, in the county of New Haven and State of Connecticut, have invented a new and useful Method of Uniting Metallic Surfaces; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of, the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, which form 'a part. of this specification.

Figure 1 'is a sectional view of a plate of iron faced with a metallic coating, showing the manner of securing the facing to the iron; Fig. 2, an enlarged view of a portion of Fig. 1, showing more distinctly my new and peculiar mode of uniting the 'noncorrosive facing plates or sheets to iron surfaces.

The nature of my invention consists in a new and improved manner of securing thin plates or sheets of metal upon thicker metallic-bodies.

Its chief advantage consists inthe economical and eificient method which it affords of protecting iron surfaces, especially the iron hulls of sea going vessels, from corrosion and the destructive influence of the elements thereon.

The evils resulting from the rapid oxidation of iron when exposed to the action of water or acids upon its surface have been long and seri ously felt, and have greatly diminished the value of this metal in many of its most useful applications. In order to prevent these evils and secure the full benefit of this metal in pared iron surface, and are all excedingly.

elaborate and expensive.

The rapid developments recently made, demonstrating the great value of iron in theconstruction or protection of ships, both in our merchant and naval service, have rendered the need of a cheap, effectual, and speedy mode of protecting the hulls of vessels built of or plated with iron a matter of great interest, and the serious drawback to the use of this metal in ship-building which results from its speedy corrosion in salt water and its liability to the attachment of barnacles has become a subject of grave. importance.

My invention offers a cheap, sure, and effective remedy for these evils-by affording the means of securely coppering the hull of an iron or iron-plated vessel with nearly the same facility and economy as is attained in coppering wooden ships.

It consists in fastening the metallic sheathing to the iron plates by means of simple rivets out in suitable lengths from copper or other wire. These rivets A, Figs. 1 and 2, pass closely through apertures made for the purpose in the metallic sheathing B into interiorly-enlarged cavities '0, formed for their reception in the iron plates D, the shape of ,v'hich cavities is clearly shown in Fig. 2. After their insertion into these cavities the rivets are secured by simple blows upon their upper and outer ends; which cause them to spread and closely fill the enlarged cavity. At the same time the edges of the, metallic facing encirclihg and closely fitting the upper portion of the rivets are forced down into the countersink at. the mouth of the cavity, and the rivets themselves, being headed upon the surface-of the sheathing, permanently fastens the same.

The countersinks in the mouths of the cavities, by receiving the heads formed upon the rivets, together with the edges of the metal adjacent to the apertures-which are forced down into the same, permit a perfectly smooth and uniform finishto the exterior surface of the sheathing used.

In applying my invention to the hulls of.

vessels plated with iron armor, in which the joints between the several plates are secured and protected by strips of iron placed so asto break these joints, as represented in Fig. 3, it will be useful and advantageous to insert between the iron strips :1? 00 wooden strips 3 3 Fig. 4, of an equal thickness, in order to insure a flush and uniform exterior surface to the hull of the vessel. By the use of such wooden stri ps, alternatin g with the iron, over the protecting armor beneath, the hull may be more cheaply and rapidly coppered, because of the lesser number of rivets required to be inserted in the iron armor. These wooden strips 9/ y-may be fastened by an over lapping bevel formed upon the edges of the necessary iron strips a; m, as represented in Fig. 4, or in such othermode as may be found convenient and satisfactory.

WhatI claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. The new and improved method of uniting metallic sheets or plates bymeans of metallic rivets, combined with simple apertures in the outer facing-sheets and interiorly-enlarged cavities in the underlying plates of metal, all substantially in the manner and for the purpose herein set forth.

2. When my invention is used for the purpose of protecting the hulls of iron-plated vessels, the introduction of wooden strips y'y, Fig. 4, in combination with the iron strips a: x, the iron surface D, and. the riveted metallic facing B, in order to obtain a uniform exterior surface, substantially in the manner herein set forth.

Witness my hand this 4th day of December, A. D. 1862v WM. B. BARNARD.

In presence of-- SAML. G: BLACKMAN, R. GOYLE, Jr. 

